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I thought I would start a thread to share my work over the next few months (and hopefully years!). I plan to do a lot of work on my railway and rolling stock and would love to see what you guys think and hopefully learn a few new skills from you along the way

This week I have begun by doing some work towards producing a breakdown train, I have wanted one for years and finally have put a plan into action. With a Cowan Sheldon 15t crane kit on order from Lytchett Manor Models, I thought a good bit of preparation would be to start building a support train. To do this I have converted two older pieces of stock. I understand that breakdown trains of the 50s and 60s were made up of all sorts of old stock and so I have taken some artistic licence to produce something which I feel works on my layout.

The first is a Dapol Siphon H wagon which has received a new coat of paint and will later receive some work to add further detail to the exterior as well as some basic weathering. This will represent a work van which would house all the required tools and equipment for the work crew.

The second is a GF suburban coach which has also recieved a repaint. It has also had a chimney added to represent an on board wood burner or boiler. This coach is to represent a mess and sleeping coach for the crew. I would like to add further detailing to the coach as well as some weathering and potentially on board lighting. All in good time!

I also plan to convert a milk wagon to serve as a water source for the train too, however as I do not own one this little addition has stalled! However I am still pleased with my progress and am curious to know if there is anything anybody would advise to add to my train?

Not having a breakdown train myself, I look forward to seeing how this evolves.

I have a couple of concerns from your pics, though

Tracks so close to the baseboard edge with no protection in the event of a derailment really worry me.Track rubbers produce a fine white dust which can easily accumulate in locos so please wipe the track down and vacuum after using them.

Not having a breakdown train myself, I look forward to seeing how this evolves.

I have a couple of concerns from your pics, though

Tracks so close to the baseboard edge with no protection in the event of a derailment really worry me.Track rubbers produce a fine white dust which can easily accumulate in locos so please wipe the track down and vacuum after using them.

Sorry to go off topic.

No need to apologise, perfectly good concerns and I will do my best to address them. I do have limited space so the shape of my layout is designed so that I can get the most track in possible. The curve you see in my third image results in me being right beside the layout when operating. I have not had a derailment so far (tempting fate there), but I will definitely put some cushions on the floor in future. And any rolling stock used gets put away at the end of the day just in case!

As for the track rubber, I had thought of this and do have a little handheld hoover to deal with this and dust! To be honest I am going off track rubbers and am interested in alternative ways of keeping the track clean and fresh

To be honest I am going off track rubbers and am interested in alternative ways of keeping the track clean and fresh

There's a huge amount of info about chosen methods but rather than everyone pile in and mess up your 'Workbench' thread I suggest you type 'track cleaning' into the Search function and be prepared to read for a couple of months

For your water tanker, it might not need to be a 6 wheel milk tanker. Given that they'd use whatever's going spare you could either use one of the Peco 4 wheel kits or just (literally) lash anything tank like to a spare chassis and scribble "Water" on it

Not much to add on constucting my breakdown train. I have purchased a couple of peco wagon skits to add to my breakdown set, a 15ft tanker kit and a 15ft bolster wagon. Now I will be eagerly waiting by my letterbox all week awaiting the various bits and pieces to continue the project

Meanwhile I have decided to give my favourite locomotive a facelift, a Union Mills T9 Greyhound in Southern Black. As with most Union Mills locomotives an amount of detail has been left off of this model, however that is perfect for modellers like me who want to add their own touch.

To improve my T9 I have done a few small things to start with. To begin I have applied Humbrol 12 to some of the piping along the side of the locomotive, which had been left black on the locomotive. I have also applied this paint to the whistle and valves on top of the locomotive. I have also given the front and rear buffers a little repaint as they have come painted with a shiny red paint which feels off with the rest of the matt black locomotive. To do this I have used Humbrol 60, it is the closest I presently have to buffer beam red and definately does the job

Finally I have gone over the whole model with some weathering powders. I haven't much experience with the powders but through reading a few threads on the forum I have picked up a few tips here and there, so thankyou fellow members for your marvellous advice and guides To give a general weathered impression I have used a dark earth coloured powder all along the sides of the locomotive. I have added a few dashes of black soot around the pipework to fade the newly painted pipes which stand out like a sore thumb! To finish the loco off I have made a mix of white, black and dark earth powders to simulate a buildup of ash in front of the firebox.

Overall I am pleased with the facelift, it looks like a proper workhorse now! However I do have a few changes I would like to make. I feel the buffers still stand out, so some darker paints with a decent coat of weathering will be applied in future. I would also like to add some vaccum pipes and coupling hooks to give the front and rear of the locomotive a few points of interest.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions on further work this locomotive could receive?

You could try replacing the buffers with turned brass buffers as I did as shown belowI bought mine from the NGS shop, not sure if they still sell them but if not you should be able to get some from NBrass, etc.

The original buffers should simply pull out and the new ones slide in with an interference fit (with luck). Be careful though as the yield stress of the white metal is quite low and you don't want a bent buffer beam

You could try replacing the buffers with turned brass buffers as I did as shown belowI bought mine from the NGS shop, not sure if they still sell them but if not you should be able to get some from NBrass, etc.

The original buffers should simply pull out and the new ones slide in with an interference fit (with luck). Be careful though as the yield stress of the white metal is quite low and you don't want a bent buffer beam

Richard

Hi Richard,

Thats a very good idea, I was actually looking at your model on the classifieds earlier. The buffers on your model do look much better than the ones supplied. Thankyou very much for your input.

Update on the breakdown train! Still no crane in sight, however I have managed to add to the rolling stock of the tool train.

I have purchased 2 Peco 15ft wagons to represent a bolster wagon (which may or may not be used according to length of the train with added crane) and a water container for the crane's boiler. I must say the Peco wagons are a delight to put together, minimal effort, just what I need after a long 8 day shift! Makes me feel like I have accomplished something

I have finished painting the wagon, very basic red with a brown wooden surface. The water wagon however needs a few more bits of painting before I am satisfied with it! I also need to decide how the word 'water' will be written, whether it will be neatly written in large letters or crudely chalked on to give it a thrown together look. Any opinions?

As I am still awaiting my cranes, I have turned to an upgrade project with one of my T9s. I presently own two T9s both in Southern liveries, however as I run largely BR locomotives I feel one should get a face lift and new livery.

Today I have dismantled one T9 and given the body a layer of primer. In this grey state the detail of Union Mills locomotives becomes a lot clearer. I have also taken the oppertunity to tidy up the locomotive, removing flash and correcting a slight bend in the front buffer beam.

From here I will spray the locomotive matt black all over. After a bit of research into nationalised T9s I have decided to renumber the locomotive number 30313, a locomotive which lasted in operation until 1961, featured a wide cab and retained its 6 wheel tender. Although I do fancy an 8 wheel tender I think thats a project for when I have picked up a lot more experience!